50-Carat Hope Spinel Shatters Estimates, Fetches $1.4 Million

A rare colored gem from one of the world’s most distinguished collections set a world record Thursday at Bonhams London Fine Jewellery Sale.

The 50.13-carat Hope Spinel fetched $1.4 million at the auction, setting a world record for achieving a price of $30,000 per carat, nearly double the previous record. It also shattered its high estimate of $310,000. 

The octagonal step-cut gem was owned by London banker Henry Philip Hope whose collection of approximately 700 gems included the Hope Diamond (The 45.52-carat blue diamond that is part of the permanent collection in the Smithsonian National Natural History Museum). He kept the collection until his death in 1839. It’s been 98 years since the spinel was last offered for sale. 

The gem is set within decorative old brilliant and rose-cut diamond claws, framed by larger old brilliant-cut diamonds (total diamond weight 6.50 carats), mounted in silver and gold and worn as a brooch/pendant with detachable fittings. There’s a handwritten note in the case describing it as a “spinel-ruby” from the Hope Collection.

“It was an exceptional gemstone with a priceless provenance and these pieces just don't come to the open market often,” said Jean Ghika, director of Bonhams Jewelry for the UK and Europe.

Based on its color and large size, the gem was traced to the ancient Kuh-i-Lal mines, in Tajikistan, where some of the most celebrated ancient spinels were found. 

“These historic mines are geographically difficult to access and by the 20th century they weren't used due to political reasons,” Ghika said. “Spinels of this size and quality are therefore exceptionally rare even without the provenance of the Hope Spinel.”

Other top lots from the auction include the following: 

* An Art Deco enamel, gem-set and diamond “Tutti Frutti” bracelet, by Cartier, New York, 1929 that sold for $700,599. The articulated geometric strap, with carved emerald and ruby and black enamel vine motifs, against an old brilliant and single-cut diamond ground, mounted in platinum, diamonds approximately 10 carats total, signed Cartier. The luxury jeweler’s Indian-inspired Tutti Frutti jewels are some of its most celebrated designs. 

* A sapphire and diamond necklace, ring and earring suite that sold for $315,537. The necklace is designed as a graduated series of claw-set oval-cut sapphire clusters, within double and single-tier brilliant-cut diamond surrounds, alternating with pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamond cluster floral motifs. With the earrings and ring, the sapphires totaled 128 carats and the diamonds approximately 84.80 total carats.

* A natural pearl ring in a circular shape between baguette-cut diamond shoulders that sold for $315,537. 

* A diamond “Torsade” bangle, by Suzanne Belperron, circa 1932, sold for $251,360. The jewel consists of a “gadrooned” cuff of alternating pavé-set old brilliant-cut diamond and polished platinum sections (diamonds approximately 20.70 carats total).

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50-Carat ‘Hope Spinel’ Could Surpass $310,000 Estimate

Among the top lots of the Bonhams London Fine Jewellery Sale on September 24 is the 50.13-carat Hope Spinel. The octagonal step-cut spinel is expected to fetch $240,000 - $310,000. However, Emily Barber, director of Bonhams jewelry department in London, said it could sell for much more.

“It not only had the amazing provenance but it’s also an exceptional gemstone in its own right,” she said. “You just don’t see pieces of this quality and provenance on the open market very often. It’s very exciting.”

The gemstone is part of one of the world’s greatest gem collections and will be offered for sale for the first time in 98 years.

It was owned by London banker Henry Philip Hope whose collection of approximately 700 gems includes the Hope Diamond (The 45.52-carat blue diamond that is part of the permanent collection in the Smithsonian National Natural History Museum). He kept the collection until his death in 1839.

The Hope Spinel’s origins are from the Kuh-i-Lal mines, in Tajikistan, according to the Swiss gemological laboratory, SSEF.

“The mines are geographically difficult to get to and politically in the 20th century weren’t being used,” Barber said. “That makes spinels like these exceptionally rare even without the provenance of the Hope Spinel.”

A spinel is a gemstone sometimes confused with ruby because they’re found in the same rock formations, are chemically similar and often have a pinkish-red coloring, Barber explained. But very large specimens are often more transparent and have fewer inclusions than ruby.

“Incredible transparency and impeccable cut of the Hope Spinel mean it is classed as an ‘exceptional treasure,’” she said.

The gem is set within decorative old brilliant and rose-cut diamond claws, framed by larger old brilliant-cut diamonds (total diamond weight 6.50 carats), mounted in silver and gold and worn as a brooch/pendant with detachable fittings. There’s a handwritten note in the case describing it as a spinel-ruby from the Hope Collection.

Henry Philip Hope never married and secretly gifted his gem collection to a nephew to avoid inheritance tax. Family wrangling caused the collection to be split among two nephews.

The spinel was eventually sold at auction in 1917 for approximately $1,600 (about $120,000 in today’s currency). It eventually turned up in the collection of Lady Mount Stephen, who was married to a Canadian philanthropist living in the UK. When Stephen died in 1933, the spinel went to her niece-by-marriage, Elsie Reford, who along with her husband, amassed one of the most important collections of art in Canada. The spinel was gifted to Elsie Refords’ granddaughter, who was also Lady Mount Stephen’s god daughter.

“The current owner is a direct descendant who has always known it as being ‘Aunt Gian’s (Lady Mount Stephen) Hope spinel,’” Barber said.

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10.6-Carat Fancy Blue Diamond Has an Asking Price of $9.8 Million

The "Royal Blue" diamond

A 10.6-carat fancy blue diamond known as the “Royal Blue” is available through M.S. Rau Antiques in New Orleans. The asking price is $9.8 million.
 
Blue diamonds are among the rarest in the world so it seems unusual that this cut-corned, modified brilliant cut gem is the second significant blue diamond to appear on sale in August. A week earlier, Sotheby’s Hong Kong announced that it is offering a 7.59-carat round fancy vivid blue diamond that is estimated to fetch $19 million.

This stone has a VVS1 clarity grade, notable for having “very, very slight” inclusions, according to the report from the Gemological Institute of America. It is one step away from being graded as “internally flawless” under the GIA scale. The chemical that creates the blue in diamonds is boron, which this gem has.

The diamond is set on a platinum and rose gold ring surrounded by vivid pink and colorless diamonds.

Fewer than 0.3 percent of all colored diamonds graded by GIA were predominately blue. Gem expert and dealer Robert Procop, also the co-designer of Style of Jolie jewels with Angelina Jolie, knows as much as anyone when it comes to the rarity and historical significance of these gems.

“Blue diamonds are rarely discovered and only a few have been found over centuries of mining, making it one of the rarest gems of the world,” he said. “(They) have also been the most gifted by royalty and historical figures making them the most mysterious and precious of jewels. I rarely see a blue diamond that I do not admire.”

Large fancy blue diamonds have been sold for record-breaking figures at auctions and other sales, several have had illustrious provenance through its mine origins and ownership throughout centuries. The most famous blue is the Hope Diamond, last purchased by famed luxury jeweler, Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1958.

The asking price for the “Royal Blue” ring is more than $924,500 per carat, which seems a bit steep, particularly since it has no known provenance. However, it is only about half of the per-carat price of a 5.30 blue diamond purchased by another famed jeweler, Laurence Graff, at a Bonhams auction in London in April 2013. The final price was $9.6 million or $1.8 million per carat.

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An Afternoon with the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff Diamonds

Gary Roskin's "Evening with the Blues" presentation at AGTA GemFair

Gary Roskin, one of the world’s leading gemologists as well as a longtime educator and writer, was one of 10 gem experts who examined and photographed the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff diamonds—the most famous blue diamonds in the world—to determine whether their origins were the same.

The event took place Jan. 21, 2010, inside the “Blue Room” (the outer-room of the gems and minerals vault) of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Roskin documented the event and has been writing about it on his website, the Roskin Gem News Report, in series titled, “An Evening with the Blues.” More recently, he brought this story to life during a presentation at AGTA GemFair Tucson. Below are seven video excerpts from that presentation.

Gary Roskin Interviews Maurice Galli

Image courtesy of Harry Winston

The career of a renowned jewelry designer and his relationship with the world famous Hope Diamond is the subject of a story on The Roskin Gem News Report.

Maurice Galli, 81, a professor of jewelry design, author and longtime senior designer for Harry Winston, Inc., has an illustrious career but there was one glaring hole in his résumé. Even though he has been employed at Harry Winston for more than 50 years and was mentored the company’s founder, Harry Winston, he never had the chance to design a piece of jewelry for the Hope Diamond, the famous blue diamond that was donated to the Smithsonian by Mr. Winston. Needless to say this has changed.

The story is told by Gary Roskin, who is no slouch himself in the world of precious gems. He is one of the world’s leading gemologists as well as a longtime educator and writer. Nearly a year ago, he was given access to the back room of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals while 10 gem experts documented and examined the Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff blue diamonds, the two most famous blue diamonds in the world, to try to determine whether they were ever related. He has been writing about the event and its findings in a series of stories on his website. The Galli story is part of this ongoing series.